Monday, February 15, 2010

Obama and Executive Power

Apparently, Obama is still having trouble pinning down that slippery Constitution stuff. Especially the second article.

He's making plans to use his executive power (whatever that is) to advance his agenda.

From the article:"But in the aftermath of a special election in Massachusetts that cost Democrats unilateral control of the Senate, the White House is getting ready to act on its own in the face of partisan gridlock heading into the midterm campaign."

I love it. I've seen both sides do this- the Republicans lose their majority, and the Democrats are just evil. The Democrats lose a majority, and the Republicans are evil. It has nothing to do with their policies and the fact that the American people are sick of them, and that their ideas have failed. Oh no. It's Fox News' fault. Or CNN's fault.

Anyway.

The article claims that the executive branch has the power to basically pass legislation through executive orders, and 'administrative fiat'. Um, I could be totally off-base, but I don't think that was what those things were intended to do.

Another way our lovely President is trying to get around his now-divided Congress is through threatening to use his recess appointment power. That's pretty wrong, if you ask me. He's forcing Congress' hand, and that's not how it's supposed to be.

Once again from the article:"Mr. Obama has already decided to create a bipartisan budget commission under his own authority after Congress refused to do so."

This kind of stuff completely defeats the purpose of the Constitution. The Constitution instituted three major branches of government, and they did that so that no one branch could grab too much power- thus keeping the people safe. (Of course, the Constitution also operates from the basic premise that the people actually care one whit about it and what their leaders do.)

Obama, in my estimation, doesn't even deserve kudos for trying. He's trying to circumvent the Constitution, and that just doesn't work well.

3 comments:

I completely agree -- with you, not Obama. It's crazy that politicians don't even talk about the Constitution anymore. If people want to do something, they never makes an appeal to the Founders or the Bill of Right; they just try to do it, try to muster up the votes, persuade the media, etc. The media doesn't talk about it either; like it'd be so tough for them to point out that legal issues surrounding what Obama's doing.

Don- it is very sad, especially considering the politicians took an oath of office that requires them to uphold the very document they so constantly side-step. And the media, like you said, is more than willing to go along with it.

About the Author

I am an 18 year old libertarian, Texan, and constitutionalist. I spend most of my time writing novels and discussing issues with people online. Until such time as that changes and I get a life, you're probably going to be subjected to my thoughts.